


Fall into Grace

by TheLooniestLoon



Category: Diablo (Video Game), Diablo III
Genre: Post-Game(s), Resurrection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 04:27:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11524560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLooniestLoon/pseuds/TheLooniestLoon
Summary: Summary in first chapter.





	1. When All Was Said And Done

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a sort of worst case scenario that I thought of after finishing Diablo III - and how it might be fixed.

When all was said and done, the Nephaleam were abandoned by their parents.

When all was said and done, the Worldstone was destroyed.

When all was said and done, both the Arch and the Pits were gone too. Shattered and quenched, the souls of angels and demons wandered Sanctuary.

When all was said and done, they didn’t wander for long.


	2. A Light Lost In Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lost soul wanders.

Darkness. Darkness was everywhere.

  
It was all-encompassing, welcoming and foreboding, frightening and safe. The only light came from themself, and it was unsure yet whether that was a good thing.

  
They had to get out of here. They had to go back. …but back to where?

  
An even more frightening scene appeared in phantasmic details around them. A battle. Monsters. Lights…?

  
Angels. They were an angel!

And the others needed them. Even in their last moment they saw others falling around them. Smaller than them, following them... lost without him…

  
It was then that he realized he’d been here before. He could go back to them. And yet… Something was different... But what?

  
In the darkness, he floated. He sensed… no way out.

  
“…...…ou ther…”

  
The awareness flashed. A sound.

  
“...yes, you…”

  
He stretched his senses further, farther, searching for the echoing voice.

  
“Come on…”

  
One direction felt better then the others, and he drifted towards it. He waited to hear the voice again, but it was not the voice that continued to draw him.

  
There were colors here. Faint, shadowy and distant, but they were there.

  
There were two distinct shapes. One was larger then the other, and the longer he observed them the more he understood that they were both in… distress.

  
He slowed as he drew near them... And realized there were three shapes. A very small, very faint one overlapped another, making the second one only appear to be larger.

  
Something about it filled him with distaste, and he hesitated. Before he could examine the feeling further, he felt a tug pull him away.  
In turn, he jerked away. Who dared to do that?!

  
“This way, firelight.”

  
The voice! They were responsible! They sounded much closer now, and his anger propelled him towards it.

  
“Whoa, there, friend.” He bounced off an invisible something, and suddenly his surroundings came alive with ethereal color. “I am only trying to help.”

  
Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the colors began to fade away. He almost chased them, until the voice tugged him back. Slowly, the colors revealed themselves once more, and he realized the invisible something surrounded the brightest one.  
“Hello there, Angel,” it spoke to him, it’s shape coming into focus.

  
A nephaleam!

  
Now he knew why the other shapes had unsettled him! Such was his anger that the air vibrated around him, but the demonspawn only smiled.

  
“Careful, Angel. My power is vast enough to ground you here, but my patience is much more finite. I am here to help you,” it repeated.

  
Help him? He needed no help from demonspawn! As if it would not betray him its first chance.

  
“No, really, I am,” it smiled coyly, which only upset him further. Its smile slowly faded, replaced with a solemnness that was… not much better. “Sanctuary has by now learned of the Crystal Arch.”

Like a blow, grief struck him in a drowning wave. In his mind, the memory flashed anew: demons, invading the High Heavens, the Evils- the Seven Evils shattered the Arch!

“Be at ease, Angel, all will be well. The Arch may be gone, but its Angels are not yet lost.” The nephaleam waved a gentle hand around him, and the worst of the grief passed. “Your kind now manifests in Sanctuary. Partly, that is.” It motioned towards the Angel.

  
“You are not the first I have encountered, nor will you be the last. But there is hope.” In one hand it revealed a... an orb. He’d never seen it before, but somehow it felt familiar. “This...is a remnant of the Crystal Arch.”

  
It- What?!

  
“Shards like these are why the Angels still form. I and others protect and use them to restore the Angelic Host, until they are strong enough again to protect it.”

  
Multiple thoughts crossed his mind at this. Most of them indignant, many of them unkind. Would they really just hand the pieces back? At what price was their help?

“For now, nothing. But the demons are our enemies as well. We hope to forge an alliance some day, but our people – my order – know the chance of such will be a long time from now.

  
“Will you try to hear me out? Or let yourself disperse into the cosmic dust that composes us all?”

  
The angel brooded. It was then that he realized that the demonspawn could hear him, but he knew not what it meant.

  
He focused hard, this time, to convey his assent and his misgivings. **_You may speak._**

  
The nephaleam slowly nodded. “A copy of your physical form has always been held in the Arch,” they began, cupping the orb in both hands for emphasis. The colors – mana, most likely – surged around their hands. “It calls your essence towards it and restores you to form. Part of the Arch still remains: the Great Orb that calls you. Even changed into smaller ones, it can still give you form... Albeit by helping you find a new one.”

  
The angel felt trepidation. Where was this going?

  
The nephaleam spoke carefully, sensing his discomfort. “Not far from here, a couple grieves. Their child, not yet born, grows weaker with each passing day. It is part of my station to help them, and I have tried. But alas... The life within it will not stay for much longer.”

You want me to take its form? You would make me the likes of you, the likes of demonspawn?!

  
“There is no other choice left to you," it chastised, "A host is your only option; these orbs are strong but you cannot hold yourself together for much longer. To give up on life would be to surrender to the demons.” The orb now glowed with magic in their hands. A pale form of angelic magic. “Half of the Angiris Council is still lost in the void: Tyrael still lives as a human, and Auriel has reincarnated, but Ithereal and Imperius have yet to be found. Hope and Justice need you, warrior.

“Won’t you heed their call?”

On their spirit itself, two sigils on either shoulder flared brightly. On its right, a mark from Justice. The left bore Hope’s.

The angel drew back from the nephaleam, to think. Either option was a dreadful one. He hated the demonspawn. Despised their vile beginnings.

But surrender was not in his being. The demons could not be allowed to win.  
 **I accept**.

The nephaleam's spirit showed immense relief. “I am glad. May I have your name, so I may cast the spell?”

  
The question gave him pause. He could not remember his name immediately, and he cared naught to wonder what that meant.   
**My name… is Imperius, nephaleam.**

  
“Imperius...” The nephaleam was stunned, then at once relieved and a small amount joyous. “The World welcomes you back, Archangel of Valor. May this new life bring you… strength.”

  
Under their breath, the nephaleam uttered an incantation. The light of the orb grew stronger, brighter, banishing all darkness around them. The nephaleam did not seem to see it, but Imperius…

  
…was remade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the first chapter have been written down for a while now, but my inspiration failed before I could write more. This could be because I've yet to get ahold of my own copy of the game itself... So, something to get soon (with my next paycheck), this time with Reaper of Souls added. Maybe posting this will be the kick in the ass I need.
> 
> This work will be changed as needed, for reasons ranging from typos to mistaken lore. If you feel you've got something to add to this, by all means, feel free to share with me! It might help get me writing.


End file.
